Kathy the Carmelite was the first blog-owner to request an interview--I have to figure out what I'm going to do about non-blogowners--seems to me that frequent commenters might also be qualified.
Anyway, I'm not much of a questioner, but here I go with Kathy's five:
(1) You call your blog Gospel M*i*n*e*f*i*e*l*d. What did you have in mind when you named it that?
(2) Who has had the greatest impact on your spiritual journey and why?
(3) Which of the Carmelite Saints do you prefer and why? To whom would you suggest that one wishing to know about what Carmelite life is REALLY like go? (Other than the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin)
(4) What is your favorite holiday/season of the year and why?
(5) List five authors (dead or alive) who you wish would never stop writing and tell us why they speak to you.
Steven,
Would you care to interview me?
Thanks, Steven. Here goes:
1) (1) You call your blog Gospel M*i*n*e*f*i*e*l*d. What did you have in mind when you named it that?
I like to drink the Living Water that Jesus provides, and it does tend to bubble forth from my soul and belly! Thus, everywhere I go I tend to get into discussions of Him and His Church.
I wander into all sorts of company--sometimes it's like a battleground! People often insist on their own view of things--they challenge me to tell them my take on things, then they storm back with flaming rebuttals!
I pray a lot on the spot (and am consumed with it all of the rest of the day) for just the right words and the right spirit and the right Scriptures to use at the right moment in the exchange. Often I find myself "stepping in it"--and the result is often more explosive and even messier than dog-doo--hence I call my experience a "Gospel Minefield."
(The asterisks in "Minefield" are a Blogger template decoration: I thought the Olive Drab template with the big font gave a good "Soldier-for-Christ" feel--and the asterisks reinforced that motif by recalling the Army show M*A*S*H.)
(2) Who has had the greatest impact on your spiritual journey and why?
Fr. Jack Riley, now pastor of St. Louis Parish in Alexandria, VA, and formerly my associate pastor at All Saints Parish. He is the one who heard my first sincere confession: "I think I want to be Catholic again...". More importantly, he is the one from whom I learned that there was such a thing as Carmelite Spirituality!
At the time, he was the Spiritual Advisor of our local OCDS community, and he invited me to come and see what it was all about. I did, and I stayed!
There are many debts I owe him: I learned about detachment and proper order from him, too.
(3) Which of the Carmelite Saints do you prefer and why? To whom would you suggest that one wishing to know about what Carmelite life is REALLY like go? (Other than the Holy Trinity and the Blessed Virgin)
I love St. Teresa of Avila best. As I just told another inquirer, "Though I don't seem to be a major vessel for infused visions, I definitely resonate to Teresa. She exhorted her nuns to be womanly, not 'womanish.'" Plus, she tended to get thrown out into the world to make foundations--God made her work hard for Him outside the convent. Me, too, as a secular. It seems I'm swashbuckling challengers in every direction, all the time! I beg the Lord for a breather sometimes, just like she did!
For overall Carmelite flavor, though, I recommend Therese's Story of a Soul. Maybe a little bit of Teresa for spice and practicality--certainly a little bit of the Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross to spell detachment out in terms that the reader cannot rationalize away. I also like My Only Friend Is Darkness, by the late Barbara Dent, OCDS. It portrays a lot of life circumstances, often with poetry, that she has experienced as a full-blooded secular Carmelite! Very telling for a seeker.
(4) What is your favorite holiday/season of the year and why?
I love spring.
I dread fall and winter: seasonal depression, bigtime. The pressure of meeting everyone elses's idea of Christmas and Thanskgiving! The onset of the SCHOOLGOD and its thousand paper sacrifices!
I love the new growth, the new smell, the new, gentle warmth in the air.
(5) List five authors (dead or alive) who you wish would never stop writing and tell us why they speak to you.
a) St. Jerome: funny, funny, funny, and pulls no punches.
b) Francis de Sales: so wise. Something for every occasion.
c) P. G. Wodehouse: what a hoot! How I love Wooster! "Bertie Wooster, c'est moi!"
d) Flannery O'Connor: she captured the ambiguity of the spirit so well. She didn't explain--she just presented. You could see God as he moved in and out of the characters.
e) Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird was just such a pleasurable book. I love justice, mercy, and redemption.
Please delete my repetitious entry above!
For writers: how could I forget Dylan? May his imaginative pen scribble forever, and may his keyboard be forever fertile!
AARGH!! FORGOT THE "end bold" TAG!